The European Union, Norway and the Faroe Islands have reached a coastal states agreement for the monitoring, control and surveillance of shared pelagic stocks fisheries in the North-East Atlantic.
This is the first dedicated agreement on fisheries control and a major step in achieving a level playing field on control and management of the stocks, which comprise mackerel, horse mackerel, blue whiting and herring.
The three signatories commit to adopt a number of control measures in order to avoid discards and to monitor the landing and weighing operations. To ensure compliance with landing obligations, several measures to prevent illegal discards will be mandatory.
Measures such as providing control authorities with real-time access to weighing data and camera surveillance of landing and processing facilities will ensure better control and monitoring of catches. The signatories also agreed, for the first time, measures aimed at ensuring accurate weighing and catch recording. In addition, an ambitious plan to test remote electronic monitoring systems on board fishing vessel, such as cameras and sensors, will be implemented.
The agreement calls for a regular review of successes so that measures can be enhanced in the future. Other coastal and fishing states were invited to participate but Greenland, Iceland and the Russian Federation were not in a position to commit to the agreement. It is hoped they will join in the future.
